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Architects

Basic Biographic Details

David McLeod Craik
Architect
Year Only
1873
Date Not Known
17/10/1925
David McLeod Craik was born in 1873 in Neath, Glamorganshire, the son of Robert Craik, travelling draper, who has been born in Scotland and his Welsh wife Kate. He was articled to Alfred Bucknall and Edward William Jennings of Swansea 1889-93, but thereafter his experience was predominantly Scottish as assistant to Clarke & Bell and Thomas Lennox Watson in Glasgow and to William Hamilton Beattie in Edinburgh all in 1894-6. Thereafter he moved to the office of Robert Graeme Watt and Frederick Henry Tullock in Belfast from which he found employment with John McKean Brydon on the new government offices in Whitehall in 1898, remaining with him until March in 1900 when he passed the qualifying exam and was admitted ARIBA, his proposers being Brydon, Watson and Cole Alfred Adams.

Thereafter he was a senior assistant with Edward Augustus Grunning until 1902 when he obtained a post with the Singapore municipality, probably on the strength of his experience with Brydon. He commenced practice on his own account in Singapore in 1907, merging his practice with that of Swan & Maclaren in 1913. ___Swan and J W B MacLaren were engineers and chartered surveyors rather than architects and had established a practice in the 1880s. They became the 'leading exponents of their profession' in SE Asia, having offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Penang. The other partners were H Robinson who lived at Singapore and H C Atkin-Berry who lived at Kuala Lumpur.

Craik was admitted FRIBA on 12 January 1914. After the war Craik opened the Penang office of Swan & Maclaren and was there after the dissolution of the partnership in 1928.

Craik's principal works were St Joseph's Church, Fort Canning Street, 1909 and the Rubber Broker's Arcade, 1910, remodelled in a Saracenic idiom by Craik in 1920.



Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

AddressClassDate From Date From TypeDate ToDate To TypeNotes
Singapore SingaporeBusiness
3 De Souza Street SingaporeBusiness
6 The Arcade SingaporeBusiness
Georgetown Chambers Penang MalaysiaBusiness

Employment and Training

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

NameName LinkDate FromDate ToPositionNotes
Thomas Lennox Watson100031In year 1894In year 1894Assistant
George Beattie & Son100126In year 1894In year 1896Assistant
Clarke & Bell200134In year 1894In year 1894Assistant
John McKean Brydon200523In year 1898In year 1900Assistant
Edward Augustus Gruning204540In year 1900In year 1902Assistant
Swan & Maclaren205466In year 1907Senior AssistantSupervisor of the Penang office. Later partner?

RIBA Proposals

This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

PersonDate ProposedNotes
Oliver Frederick SavegeEarly 1929sfor Fellowship
Joseph Charles Miller1938/02/07for Fellowship

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

AuthorTitleDatePublisherPartNotes
MacMillan, Allister (comp.and ed.)Seaports of the Far East1923London: W H & L Collingridgep305
Beamish, Jane and Ferguson, JaneA History of Singapore Architecture1985Singaporepp93-95, 135

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical NamePublisherDate CircEditionNotes
Penang Gazette1935/07/05Craik still alive at this date.